FROM THE KIEWIET
What’s Happening Around the Club:
2023 is already well upon us and as we look to improve as a club the following projects will be ongoing around the club after Easter as we start to quieten down.
Parking Lot: Unfortunately, the parking lot has started to wear down and the potholes have gotten worse. We have a contractor starting next week and they will start repairing them section by section, we will do this on quiet days as to not disrupt parking as much as possible.
Security: Security is something we are continuously looking at and re-evaluating in an effort to improve and keep up with current trends. From the 1st April G4S will be taking over as our security providers. We will have two security guards on the golf course on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. One guard will patrol the area around the 11th to 15th holes and the other guard will patrol the opposite side of the front 9 and holes 16-18. The G4S response vehicles will operate from the parking lot and will have a greater presence around the clubhouse. The ball collectors are an ongoing problem and we are working closely with G4S and other parties to try improve the situation.
Clubhouse: We will be installing glass doors in the Proshop into the openings in the between the pro shop and halfway area, these doors will be locked in the evenings, so when the bar and kitchen is still open the Proshop will be locked off. Entrance and exit from the clubhouse will then be through bar and deck area. After easter we will be giving the deck area a touch up, it will be getting a paint and some refurbishment done on the tables and flooring.
Golf Course: We continue to look to improve the course and keep the excellent conditions up in trying times, over the next few months we will be installing cart paths at the 9th and 15th greens. In a effort to ensure the course is kept to the correct rules there will be a change on the 11th and 15th holes. The sloot that runs up the right-hand side of the 15th and across the 15th to the head wall on the 11th will now be marked all the way as a red penalty area as it is a natural water course, even though it is dry it is still a water course. This means that the head wall by the 11th fairway will no longer be marked as GUR as it will fall into the penalty area. If you are by the wall you can either take your penalty drop out of the penalty area or attempt to play it at your own risk. We will also be closing the path down to the fairway from the front of the ladies’ tee box on the 9th hole. The current path is very steep and with people pushing their carts over the tee box it is also damaging the tee box. We ask that you walk down the cart path to the 9th fairway.
Entering Scores: The change in handicapping rules and the addition of percentages for different formats has sure made golf more confusing than it needed to be, however, it is here to stay and will not likely be changed anytime soon, the one thing that I believe we have all been making an error on is how we enter our scores into the system correctly. Please remember to enter your gross score into the system based on your course handicap and not your playing handicap, so if your Course handicap is 12 and your playing handicap is 10 for the competition you must enter your gross score into the system as a 12 handicap, so if you did happen to blow out on strokes 11 and 12 on the day you would take your net double bogey as a 12 handicap and your gross score would be 2 shots higher when you enter your score for HNA.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
See you on the fairways
Justin
From the Captain
Su’mae/Sawnbona/Hallo
I hope you all had a fantastic festive period and trust that 2023 brings you everything you wish for.
As reported in the last newsletter, we entered three teams in the annual Kelly Foursomes tournament held at Royal Port Alfred GC on 22 & 23 October. The “A” team, having been promoted to the top division, did a fine job in finishing joint second on points but moved down to third on games won. The “B” & “ C” teams both finished in outright second spot in their respective divisions, their best results for some time.
Our Scratch team have completed two rounds of league fixtures so far, the first being hosted by St. Francis Bay GC where they beat Kirkwood 10-8 and halved with Walmer 9-9. Our two debutants, Flip Van Niekerk & Gerhard Pretorius acquitted themselves very well whilst Bazil Coenraad ended the day undefeated. The second match was held at Zwartenbosch GC on Sunday 26 March in terrible weather conditions. The boys stuck to their task to defeat Jeffrey’s Bay GC 14-4 but went down 10-8 to Belmont. They are currently sitting 5th. in the First division, 3 points adrift of the leaders, PEGC, 2 behind second placed Walmer GC and 1 behind joint third & fourth placed Humewood GC & Belmont GC. Their remaining fixtures are 23 April at Belmont GC and 9 July at Humewood GC.
The Kouga league held its first league match at Langkloof GC on 11 February where our team finished in second place with the home team taking first spot. The next outing will be hosted by Fynbos GC on 15 April.
The first Joker Draw is scheduled for Friday 31 July and will coincide with a steak night at the Club. Of course, to win the Joker Draw, first you have to be in it. So don’t be shy opening your wallet/purse and trying your luck. As the Club has now gone cashless, we will be taking the money from your Club account so the excuse “ I don’t have any money on me” will no longer hold water.
Arrangements are already under way for this year’s Calamari Classic and the dates for your diary are Friday, Saturday, Sunday 22,23 & 24 September. Gino Fabri will once again be on hand to keep you amused and Saturday 23rd sees The Springboks taking on Ireland in their Rugby World Cup group match. The game kicks off at 9.00pm. and we will be showing it live in the clubhouse.
All the entry sheets for this year’s Club competitions are on the notice board so please get your names down so that the relevant draws can be made and the competitions can commence.
Braai Dankie/Diolch Yn Fawr Lawr
Viv Jones/Vivianus Johanus
From the Chairman
It is always extremely difficult to bid farewell to one’s family, especially in today’s world in which many of us have our children spread around the globe but it is indeed a pleasure to be back in our fast-growing village and to be enjoying some golf and fellowship again after a fairly lengthy lay-off. Although the course has dried out substantially – it is still in excellent condition, thanks to the good work continuously carried out by our grounds team – the banter and the vibe in the clubhouse is unchanged…… absence certainly does make the heart grow fonder!!
Congratulations and a warm welcome are extended to Noelle Pearson, our new lady captain, as she takes up her seat on the committee and also to Ken McGregor who will be adding his engineering expertise in support of some of our projects. Congratulations also to Joan-Louise Manthe as she takes over the reins as our Lady President and our thanks and appreciation to Dawn Speirs for her sterling work and service to the Ladies’ section for many years. Sincere thanks also to Ian Scott for holding the fort as caretaker Chairman over the last three months.
We have just reviewed the financial results for the four months ended February 2023, which are satisfactory and ahead of budget after a good holiday season and which also reflect a slight increase in our rounds played year-to-date versus previous year. We are grateful for the re-appearance of our swallows and trust that circumstances, both overseas and local, will enable tourism to recover to levels that we have previously enjoyed.
St Francis Bay is, sadly, fast losing its “quiet, little village” character with much development taking place but this will of course bring more feet through our course and club, which will provide some of the growth that we require and have planned for. It has become necessary to adjust our priorities for this year and the committee is currently dealing with the provision of emergency power supply to ensure irrigation reliability, while we are also finalizing plans to commence with revetment work as protection for the sand dune below the 12th green. We are targeting to have this work completed by mid-year. Minor clubhouse repairs and maintenance are in progress which include roof repairs and some alterations to further improve our controls.
Planning has just commenced too for our 26th Calamari Classic which, fortuitously, will include a strong Rugby World Cup flavour and this should add much enthusiasm and excitement to the Calamari weekend.
Easter is upon us and the golfing calendar for the year is busy….. so we have our fingers crossed for good winter rains, which will allow our grounds team to sleep a little easier at night while they perpetuate their good work on the course, which, in turn, will ensure that all of our members and visitors can continue to enjoy our beloved game and the fun and fellowship that accompanies it.
Take care and swing easy.
Ken Nieuwenhuizen
KIEWIET REPORT FROM LADIES SECTION
January, 2023 saw the end of a 3-year stint of captaincy by Joan Louise Manthe. The SFBGC Ladies division has appreciated her incredibly competent leadership and organizational skills and her dedicated approach to her portfolio as our captain. Thanks and appreciation are expressed, as well, to Dawn Spiers for her wisdom and support as our out-going President, to June Mason as the out-going treasurer, administrator and communicator on the committee. Her competency and efficiency on the committee over the years, is very much appreciated. Thanks and appreciation, as well, to Les Lucas, as the out-going secretary and valuable committee member for a number of years. The SFBGC Ladies division thanks all these ladies, sincerely, for their commitment and service to the club.
New office bearers for 2023 for the Ladies Division are as follows:
President: Joan Louise Manthe
Club Captain: Noëlle Pearson
Vice-Captain and Marketing/Media: Mickey Freund
Secretary and Members Correspondence: Chamel Malgas
League and additional Member: Liebie Meyer
Kettlewell Trophy
Ladies golf ended on a high on 12 Dec 2022 with the well-organized Kettlewell Trophy and Christmas lunch. Fras Africa sponsored the wine for the tables and various sponsors donated prizes for the winners. Caroline Kettlewell was the overall winner so the trophy stays in the family.
The Quays Valentine’s Day
The 2nd of these events took place on Monday 13th Feb. 2023. It was very well supported with 74 players all dressed in their red to fit in with the occasion. The Quays were very generous sponsors for all the main prizes and Sorbet, run by Louise Marais, generously sponsored the best dressed couple. This event poses to be an annual event now with The Quays securing their spot as the main sponsor in the future. We had several overseas visitors playing and have enjoyed the fact that some of the ladies have continued to support our Monday group since then.
Monday Ladies Golf
We have been so encouraged with the number of players joining our Monday group. From struggling along sometimes with just 4 – 6 players, we have progressed to a regular 10 – 12 players enjoying the internal competitions on a Monday. We have welcomed the overseas visitors and encouraged other newer or inactive golfers to come along and enjoy some golf with us.
EP & Border Champs were played on Sunday and Monday 29/30 January at Humewood. Heather Kruger played in the A division, Liebie Meyer played in the B division and Joan Louise Manthe and Chamel Malgas played in the C division. Heather Kruger came 2nd with 173 points gross in the Mid-Amateur A & B Divisions over 36 holes. EP Senior Womens Golf is supported by 8 of our ladies. We look forward to hosting this event on 11 May on our beautiful course. EP League dates are:
8 May @ PEGC, 5 June @ SFBGC, 17 July @ Humewood and 7 August @ Wedgewood.
We are extremely grateful to Louise Marais from Sorbet for sponsoring the league player’s new shirts and peaks. It is encouraging to have 11 ladies making themselves available for league with 3 on standby this year.
POP IN Golf Day
This annual event, sponsored by our local POP IN Beauty Bar, took place on 28 February, on a perfect but very hot and humid summers day. 32 ladies from The Links, Hankey, Jeffrey’s Bay and Sardinia Bay Golf Clubs joined our ladies in a 4-Ball Alliance competition. The Sardinia Bay Ladies walked away with 1st prize and beautiful bags and beauty products. Other wonderful prizes and vouches, generously sponsored by Pop In were awarded to worthy winners for 2 – 4th places, longest drive, closest to the line and pins on all 5 par 3 holes. Pop In staff also offered free neck and shoulder massages to the players after enduring the tough weather conditions of the day.
Jeffrey’s Bay and Sardinia Bay Ladies Open days were supported by some of our ladies on 25 Feb and 10 March, respectively. Cristina van der Mescht and her partner won the Sardinia Better Ball Competition.
The Battle of the Sexes on Monday, 20 March
14 ladies and 16 senior men set off to do battle in a Better Ball Competition. The competition was extremely tight and exciting to the point that there was a 1-point difference in the end with the ladies as the victors and trophy winners. Helen Campbell and Heilie Uys came out tops on 45 points. A light lunch and plenty of banter took place as we waited in anticipation for the last 4 ball to arrive and determine the winners.
Proud Moments:
Chamel Malgas was invited to play in the Pro Am competition at the Links. She and her 4-ball won the day.
UPCOMING LADIES EVENTS
Ø The SFBGC Mixed Open on 10 April
Ø The Baboon Trophy between SFBGC and Jeffrey’s Bay Ladies on 16 May
Ø The Battle of the Babes hosted by The Links on 6 June
Ø Club Champs 0n 10 and 11 June
Ø Pam Golding Ladies Open on 8 & 9 July
Ø Hankey Day on 1 August
Ø President vs Captains Day on 2 Dec
Noelle Pearson
Lady Captain